Hydrocarbon-motor.



F. L. NICHOLS. HYDROGARBON MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2, 1904.

924,100, Patented June 8, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

F. L. NICHOLS.

HYDROGARBON MOTOR. I APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 2. 1904.

Patented June 8, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H 5 s 2 W 0 M u m M mu FRANK L. NICHOLS, or STAMFORD,

CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HERRINGTON, OF ARLINGTON, JERSEYL 'iiYnRocaRBoN-Moma. 7

5 Application filed November 2, 1904. Serial No. 231,051.

To all whom it may concern: y

Be it known that I, FRANK-L. NICHOLS, a citizen of'the United States, and a-resident of Stamford, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Hydrocarbon-Motor, of which the follow ng is a specification.

My invention relates to hydrocarbon motors and more particularly to a motor for us ng kerosene oil, explosively.

The object is to provide "a simple, effective and reliable motor of this character for use in connection with automobiles and launches and wherever a compact and economical mo-' tor is required.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanylng drawin s, in which igure 1 is a verticalsectiontaken in the plane of the axis of the shaft, and Fig. 2 is a similar section taken in a lane at right angles to the plane in which i L 1 is taken.

The'en'gine here illustrate is of the twocycle type, its casing being denoted. by 1 and including anupright cylindrical portion 2 in which the piston, denoted as a whole by 3, reciprocat i Surrounding the c linder 2 is a chamber 4 for the circulation o the cooling liquid as is common.

The crank 6 turns in an inclosed chamber 5 at the base of the cylinder and is connected to the shaft 7 and piston rod 8. This inclosed chamber 5 is connected by a conduit 9 (see Fig. 2) with the interior of the cylinder 2 at a point just abovethe position which the upper-end of the iston occu ies when the plstonis at the limit of its ownward stroke and there is also a conduit 1( connecting the interior of this chamber 5-with 'theouter air at a point just below the lower end of the piston when the latter is at the limit of its upward stroke.

An exhaust 11 communicates with the interior oi: the cylinder 2at apoint' a short dis-- tance above the position which the u per end of thefpiston occupies at the limit of its downward stroke. 4 i The s ace between the upper end of the piston w en at the limit of its'upward stroke and the top of the cylinder is denoted by 12 and forms the vaporizing and combustion chamber. This chamber'is provided with a number of depending flanges 13 to increase the extent of crown surface for more rapidly v 1 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 8, 1909.

' I vaporizing the atomized fuel as it is injected 'ro MARSHALL, I

secured in the wall ofthe chamber as, shown I in Fig. 1.

The mixture of air and keroseneis forced into'the chamber 12 through numerous small openings 15 in the inner end of the hollow injecting. lug 16 inserted in the side wall of. the cham r 1'2. These small are directed upwardly and inwar ly an'dthe end of the plug is permitted to project slightly within the chamber 12 so .that the (spray from these openings 15 will pass immeiately to the de ending flanges 13 in the crown of the cylinder and b dashing against them will be very complete y broken u and being vaporized by the heat in the an'ges in the chamber 12 will be homogeneously intermingled with the air therein. 7

The Interior of the lug 16 is in communication with the chamher 17 through a valve 18, the stem of which is seated in the hub 19 of a perforated diaphragm located within the chamber 17, alight spring 20 coiled around the valve stem bein utilized to hold the valve normally close The chamber. 17 is in communication with the interior of the pump cylinder 21 through a passageway Y22 and access to the interior of The casing containing the chamber 17 and the passageway leading therefrom to the pump cylinder 21 and carryin the tubular plug 24 as well as the sight'fee reservoir 26, forms the'head of the pump cylinder 21 and also forms the seat for the needle valve and its adjustin mechanism for controlling the jadmission o the hydrocarbon fluid.

The piston 27, which works in the (pum cylinder, has its iston rod 28 connecte wit a crank 29 on a s ort shaft 30 mounted in the base of the engine casing and operated by means of a gear 31 in mesh wit gear 32 carried by the engine shaft 7 so as to cause the pump to make a complete stroke forward and backward with every forward and backward stroke of the engine piston,

openings 15' a similar but set a little in advance of the engine piston to provide for the seating of the valve 18 before the explosion.

The needle valve for admitting the hydrocarbon fluid to the chamber 17 is denoted by with the interior of the pump cylinder through an opening "36 formed in a plug 37 secured in the cylinder head and shouldered at its upper end to form a seat for the coiled spring 38 received within the hollow or recessed lower end of the piston 34 and serving to cushion the piston 34. A

The needle valve, its stem and piston having the inertia de ending upon their combined weight and eing acted upon by force transmitted through an elastic medium, it follows that if the impulses become too frequent or more frequent than the intended rate, the force transmitted in the shortened time is not suflicient to overcome the inertia and operate the valve and hence the speed of the engine is reduced, the valve and its operating mechanism thus serving as a governor. The downward throw of the iston 34 and hence of the valve 33 is limite by the plug 37. The'valve 33 seats in the lower end of a rodl39 which passes down through the sight feed reservoir 26, within a sleeve 40 depending from the top 41 of the reservoir 26 and through a sleeve 42 extending upwardly from the base of the reservoir 26 and also through bearings 43, and 44, the former in a depending portion of the base of the reservoir 26 and the latter in the upper wall of the chamber 17 The rod 39 has a channel 45 extending from the valve seat in its lower end upwardly and laterally into communication with the interior of the sleeve 42, the inner wall of which is spaced from the surface of the rod 39 and th1s sleeve 42 has its wall perforated to open communication between it and the interior of the reservoir 26.

The downwardly extending sleeve 40 makes a tight joint with the upwardly extending sleeve 42 and the rod 39 has a screw threaded engagement 46 with the interior of the sleeve 40 so that by turning the rod by means of its hand wheel 47 in the one or the other direction,'the rod and hence the valve seat and the valve therein may be bodily lowered or raised within the chamber 17 and the vertical throw of the valve 33 between its seat in the rod 39 and the point where its piston 34 engages the plug 37 will be thereby decreased or increased. It will be understood that this bodily adjustment of the valve 33 which limits its throw, will serve to limit the amount of hydrocarbon for explosion.

fluid which is permitted to pass it at each stroke.

The sight feed reservoir 26has its side wall of glass so that the height of. the hydrocarbon fluid therein may be observed and the fluid is admitted thereto through a siphon tube 48 which extends from the inlet pipe 49 at the base of the reservoir up through the body of liquid therein and curves over at a point above the surface of the liquid therein so that the liquid passing from the reservoir to the sight feed may be observed as it falls from the end of the tube 48 to the surface of the body of liquid within the feed reservoir,

The operation is as follows: The downward movement of the pump piston 27 tends to produce a vacuum in the upper part of the cylinder 21 which is communicated through the plug 37 to the plunger 34 which, when the vacuum has become owerful enough to overcome the tension of the spring 38, draws the valve 33 downwardly and permits the oil to flow from the reservoir 26 through the channel 45 into the chamber 17. This downward movement and tendency to form the 'of its downward movement, air is admitted through an o ening 50 in the wall of the cylinder 21 to t e cylinder space above the piston 27 and on its return movement this charge of air is compressed, the valve 323 closed and the charge of air and hydrocarbon fluid forced past the valve 18 and through the small openings 15 into the chamber 12. The flow of air and hydrocarbon fluid through these small openings 15 atomizes the liquid and projects it in the form of a fine spray a ainst the crown of the combustion chamber w ere it is va orized. This flow of air or air and hydrocar on continues throughout nearly the whole upward stroke of the engine piston thereby mechanically mixing the vapor with the air in the engine cylinder while it is being compressed, resulting in a very homogeneous explosive mixture.

At the moment the engine piston 3 reaches the limitof its upward stroke the explosion takes lace forcing the piston 3 downwardly. This dbwnward movement of the piston 3 through the connection of the shaft 7 with the shaft 30 and through the crank 29 and piston rod 28, draws the piston 27 downwardly again to open the valve 33, receive the charge of hydrocarbon fluid and finally the charge of air and to force them through the openings 15 in the pump 16 to produce a new charge The downward movement of the en ine iston 3 carries the top of the piston be ow t e air inlet and also below the exhaust 11, and, at the same time, compresses the air in the chamber 5 so that this compressed air shoots through the conduit 9 into lUi) the cylinder 2 above the piston 3, cleaning .therefrom the spent gases and leaving a charge of air above the piston 3 to be compressed bythe upward movement of the piston 3 to complete the explosive mixture. As the piston 3 reaches the limit of its upward movement, the chamber 5 below it is ton independent of the body ortion and se- 7 cure it to the body ortion y means of a screw or other suitab e fastening 52 extend-,, ing through it into the hub 53 fixed to the body of the piston by means of two or more wings 54. r

Intermediate the piston, I interpose an annular packing 55 of some suitable non-heat-conductirig material such, for example, as asbestos. This prevents the hot top 51 of the piston from communicating its heat to any serious extent to the side walls of the iston so that the oil which is used to cause t e piston to run freely within the cylinder, will not become burned and will not gum and thereby prevent the free movement of the piston in starting it after the engine has been, for any cause, temporarily stopped.

The oil is drawn into the sight feeding reservoir 26 through the siphon tube 48 by the. partial vacuum formed therein due to the dischargeof oil from the reservoir 26 in to the'chamber. 17 and it follows that this feed maybe determined by the adjustment of the rod 39 by means of the hand wheel 47.

. In order to start the machine without first heating the wall of the combustion chamber to va orize the oil, the sight feed reservoir 26 may e provided with a charge of alcohol through an opening. closed by a removable cap 56. This alcohol may be used to start the engine and warm it up and as it becomes nearly used, the cap 56 may be screwed into position to close; the reservoir 26 air-tight when the oil feed will begin to operate and the engine will continue to runwithout any further starting operation.

It is to be assumed that the engine casing herein illustrated is to be su ported upon a suitable pedestal not shown but which may be of any well known or approved form suitable for supporting the engine shaft and com-' pleting the walls of the closedchamber 5.

What I claim is 2- 1. In an explosive engine, the combination with a combustion chamber provided with flanges depending from its crown and a of the top 51 and the body of piston subject to be actuated by the products of combustion, of an air pump, a conduit connecting the air pump with the com- ,bustion chamber, means, for admitting a charge of hydrocarbon intov said conduit and an atomizing device arranged to direct the atomized hydrocarbon liquid within the chamber against the said depending flanges,

the said air pump serving to force the charge,

of hydro-carbon and air through the atomizing device.

2. In an explosive engine, the combination with a combustion chamber, ,a piston subject to be actuated by the products of combustion, an air pump and a conduit leading from the air ump to the combustion chamber, of an oi feed valve for admitting oil into said conduit, means for holding the said valve yieldingly seated and a reservoir in communication lwithsaid oil feed valve and arrangedto receive oil from the supply by the reduction of the air.pressure wit the reservoir, thesaid'oil feed valve being prdvided \vith'a piston under the control of the air pump to overcome the inertia of the valve and feed the oil under normal speed whereby the feed of the oil and the consequent speed of the motor is governed by said valve.

3. In an explosive engine, the combination with a combustion chamber, a piston subject to: be actuated by the products of combustion, an air pump and a conduit leading from the'air pum to the combustion chamber of an oil fee valve a piston connected with the oil feed valve and a spring for holding the valve yieldingly to its seat,

the said valve piston being under the control of the air pump through an elastic medium to operate the valve and admit air conduit, a piston connected with the valveand under the control of the air pump piston through a passageway independentof the air conduit and means for ad usting the seat of the oil feed valve to regulate the throw of the valve.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two witnesses, this 31st day of October 1904.

FRANK L. NICHOLS.

Witnesses A FREDK. HAYNES, HENRY THIEME. 

